***
Chapter 3: Charmed, I'm Sure
***
Brynn hated sewers, not just because of the smell, which was really something awful, but because of the spiders. Brynn hated spiders. She wasn't afraid of them, she just hated them with an almost maniacal passion. A particularly large spider, not of the monstrous variety, but pretty damn big nonetheless, happened to wander into range of her katana and no sooner had she seen it than it was a mess of spider guts on the slimy stones of the sewer wall.
"Bloody spiders!" she swore through clenched teeth.
Yoshimo chuckled quietly. "You know, the old wives tale goes that if you kill a spider it will rain."
"I don't care," Brynn replied, wiping her katana off on the very bottom edge of her tunic, "I can handle being rained on, I even kind of like it sometimes, I never like spiders."
Yoshimo shrugged. "As you say."
Brynn sheathed her katana and they continued on, leaping over frothy puddles of slime and other noxious things that were best left unidentified. Able to see in the dark, Brynn walked out in front, with Yoshimo behind her keeping an eye out in case something that lurked in the sewers thought to attack them from behind. All around there were rats, peering around with their little glowing eyes from the shadows. Whenever the light from the lantern Yoshimo held came around a bend in the sewer tunnels the sounds of rats scurrying away through much and fetid water could be heard.
From the corner of her eye Brynn caught sight of the glow of another lantern and put up one hand, signaling Yoshimo so stop for a moment. "You're the sneaky one," she whispered, "you go see where that light's coming from."
Yoshimo nodded and handed the lantern to Brynn before slowly he submerged himself in the shadows. If not for her infravision Brynn would never have been able to see him. He crept a little way down the tunnel toward the light of the second lantern, and eventually Brynn lost sight of him in the dark. She waited anxiously, straining her ears to hear if there were sound of a fight further down the tunnel, but she could not hear anything but the steady dripping of water.
About five minutes later Yoshimo came creeping back down the tunnel. When he got back to Brynn he took the lantern back. "There is nothing to be concerned about," he said. "Just a lone man. He looks to be set up to sell something, though what it is I could not quite tell."
"I wonder if he might know how to get to this mage's lair," Brynn said. "We might as go ask as long as you don't think he's dangerous."
So they walked down the tunnel, this time doing nothing to hide their presence, and eventually they came upon a lone man sitting in a rickety old chair, a few sealed boxes around him.
"Hello," said the stranger, "nice to see a few new faces down here. My name's Roger."
"Hello," Brynn said. "My name is Brynn, this is my friend, Yoshimo. What are you doing down here in the sewer? It can't be for the scenery."
"I might ask you the same thing," Roger countered evenly.
"Yoshimo and I are seeking entrance to the home of a certain mage. We were told that there was a way to get in somewhere in this part of the sewers," Brynn replied.
Roger frowned. "You mean Merkath? Yeah, I know of him. What do you want with him?"
"He's holding a man prisoner, an actor. The actor's employer sent us to see if we could fetch him back," Brynn replied.
"Oh," said Roger, "yeah, I think I know the guy you're talking about. He passed by this way three days past. He was a funny looking guy, and I'll tell you he made me a little nervous."
"So, do you think you could show Yoshimo and I where the entrance to this Merkath's home is?" Brynn asked, glad that she had picked up a lead.
"I don't know," Roger said uncertainly, "that all depends on what you'll give me in return."
Brynn gritted her teeth. "We don't have much right now, pretty much just the clothes on our backs."
Roger eyed Brynn's katanas, or more precisely, their sheaths, which in their own right were as much works of art as the blades they covered. "Suppose you trade me one of those swords..."
"No," Brynn said shortly, "no deal. I won't part with either of my katanas."
Roger nodded. "Okay then, come back when you've got something to bargain with and I'll help you out."
"Wait a moment," Yoshimo spoke up, "surely their is something we can do for you. Perhaps there is a small task that you need accomplished."
Roger pondered that for a while. "Yeah, I guess there is, but I don't know if the two of you are up to the job, which is why I didn't mention it."
"I assure you, friend, Brynn Trueblade and I are up to any task you might put to us," Yoshimo said confidently.
"Well," Roger said, still looking a little skeptical, "there's this sea troll hiding a little way down one of the tunnels that branches off to the right of this one. It's a mean little bastard and I'm no fighter, I'm a business man, otherwise I'd've done it in long ago. If you can kill it I'll guide you to Merkath's secret door and maybe even sweeten the deal for you a little."
"Don't worry," Brynn told him, "we've just had lots of practice killing trolls."
"Yeah," said Roger, "well, I'll hold my judgment on that until you get back."
Brynn smiled at him and she and Yoshimo started off down the tunnel they had been on before, going right. It wasn't long before Brynn smelled something other than the usual rancid stink of the sewers, a sort of briny scent that was coming from a passage to her left.
"This way, I think," she said. "I can sort of smell it."
"How can you smell anything in here?" Yoshimo asked. "I can barely breathe without feeling ill."
"You didn't have to escape through the sewers in Baldur's Gate, not to mention search those same sewers for an ogre mage and his pet carrion crawlers," Brynn replied. "Eventually you become immune to the stink. I still hate the damn spiders though."
The sound of something much larger than a rat sloshing through the waste water further down the tunnel silenced them both. Brynn listened closely and determined that what ever was down there was coming their way. The scent of brine grew stronger and from the darkness the form of the ugliest damn troll Brynn had ever seen materialized from the darkness. It was a dirty bluish-green, like befouled sea water, only much, much fouler. Its hideous jaws were filled with many sharp teeth that hung out over its black lips and its claws were long like long, dirty knives.
The sea troll roared and came at Brynn and Yoshimo with the a sort of blind animal hunger. Brynn unsheathed her katanas both in one smooth motion and ducked below the first swipe of the monster's claws. She blocked the other raking attack with her the katana in her left hand, sheering off three of the troll's fingers. With her right hand she came around and struck the troll across the stomach. Green blood spurted out of the wound and some of it splashed onto Brynn, but she was in battle mode. Gook, grime, even spiders were all secondary concerns to her. All that mattered was her opponent and her ally.
She rolled to the side, and the troll missed her again by mere inches. From the dark a flaming arrow shot out, striking the troll in the shoulder. Howling the troll clutched at the arrow with its injured hand and pulled it out. Now the smell of burning flesh joined the other scents in the sewer. Brynn took the opportunity Yoshimo's attack had given her and, concentrating all her energy into her next attack, she rushed at the troll from the side. One of her blades came down and cleaved off one of the troll's arms, the other tore a deep gash in the troll's leg. The troll roared again and stumbled. Another arrow flew from Yoshimo's bow, catching the troll in the chest and sending the creature tumbling to the ground. The troll began to struggle to its feet, but Brynn was there and she drove one of her blades through the troll's chest and into the muck below, pinning it to the ground. Yoshimo fired one last arrow, the bright magic flame that it bore snuffed the last of the life out of the dying troll.
Brynn pulled her katana out of the troll's body looked for something to wipe it off on. Her tunic wouldn't do this time, it was already soaked in muck from when she rolled to get out of the way of the troll's claws. She settled, for the moment, with shaking the greater portion of the troll blood and gunk off of the blade. She didn't sheath either blade though, not wanting to get that sort of stuff in the inside of her sheaths where it would be a pain to get out.
Yoshimo walked up and used his own katana to slice off the troll's head. "I think this will be proof enough," he said, holding up the grisly trophy.
Brynn grinned. "Oh yeah," she agreed. "Come on, let's go collect."
They made their way back through the sewer to Roger's tunnel.
Yoshimo tossed the troll's head at Roger, "Catch," he said.
Reflexively, Roger reached out and caught the head, then dropped it once he realized just what he was holding. "I guess you held up your end of the bargain. Didn't take you very long."
"Like I said, we've had lots of practice killing trolls lately," Brynn said. "After a while you refine the whole process into something of an art."
"I see," Roger said. He looked a little impressed. "Well, I suppose I should show you to Merkath's place then." He got up off of his chair and picked up his lantern. "Come on then, it's this way."
"You said something about sweetening the deal...?" Brynn inquired sweetly.
"Er... so I did," Roger said. Brynn suspected now that he was wishing he hadn't mentioned any sort of reward other than showing them the way to Merkath's secret door. He went over to one of the crates and lifted the lid. It took him a few moments of rooting around in the crate before he found what he wanted, a small, cloth wrapped package, which he handed to Brynn.
Brynn unwrapped the cloth and revealed and pair of clear vials full of shimmering blue liquid. "Potions?" she asked.
Roger nodded. "If you drink one it'll heal up your wounds. Maybe even save your life."
"Thanks," Brynn said, grateful. It was a useful sort of reward for someone in her line of work. She handed one of the vials to Yoshimo and tucked the other in her belt pouch. The cloth she used to clean off her katanas. "You want to use this?" she asked, offering the cloth up to Yoshimo in case he wanted to clean off his own blade.
"No, but thank you for the consideration," Yoshimo replied. "Come, we had better hurry before our guide gets impatient."
Roger took the 'long' way to their destination, citing a number of unpleasant things that made going the 'short' way a bad idea. "There's a nest kobolds and something else up from where I've got my little shop, and up the other way a group of thugs have taken over a little corner of the sewers for themselves."
"It's a regular tavern," Brynn muttered. "Next thing you know you're going to have the nobles putting in vacations homes down here and the Order of the Radiant Heart will move their headquarters down here." She was joking of course, but Roger frowned.
"I'm more worried about the cult that's moved in up in the north end of the sewer. They have this thing about cutting out their eyes."
Brynn made a face. "I've never heard anything so crazy before in my life," she said. Still, the thought was enough to keep her from saying anything more, and so the three of them walked on in silence until Roger called them to a halt.
"Well, here's your door," he said, gesturing to a seemingly blank stretch of wall. He felt along one of the cracks in the stone work and suddenly the wall began to swing inward, making a sound of stone grinding on stone. "Have fun with Merkath," he added, "and if you're ever in the area again stop by. Maybe I'll have something you'd like." With that he started back down the passage the way he had come.
Brynn peered into the room beyond the door and saw nothing but darkness. She signaled Yoshimo to follow her with the lantern and together they walked inside, sealing the door behind them. The room was small, its only feature a stone staircase going up from the wall to the right of the door. Brynn lead the way up the stairs, treading cautiously, and when they got close to the top and the light from the room above could be seen, Yoshimo snuffed out the candle in the lantern so that it would be harder to tell that they were coming.
The moment they emerged from the stairs they were attacked. A half a dozen mephits surrounded them, breathing magic fire. Brynn reacted instantly, drawing her katanas and slicing the wings off of one of the little creatures before it could attack. Yoshimo drew his katana as well and bisected another mephit as drew back its head to breath another wave of fire. A third mephit Brynn pinned against the wall and decapitated while Yoshimo took out a fourth and fifth with his bow. Together they cornered the sixth against a bookcase and finished it off with cold efficiency.
"This Merkath guy doesn't seem to like company," Brynn muttered, blowing on the back of her hand where it had gotten burned. Her right ankle also ached where she had twisted it avoiding another blast of fire. So much for the benefits of fighting unencumbered, Brynn thought sourly as she fingered a hole in the hem of her tunic.
She paused to examine the room. It was, or had been before the mephit attack, a neatly furnished rectangle, with three doors, two on either of the long sides and one on the left wall that led into a dimly lit hallway.
"I say we go this way first," Brynn said, choosing the door to the left. She did her best to conceal the fact that she was limping and put the pain in her ankle out of her mind.
"Allow me to lead," Yoshimo said. "That way we will know if this mage has left any nasty surprises for us."
The dim hallway opened into another small room, this one apparently the mage's laboratory. In the center of the room, on a long wooden table in a sunken pit, was a skeleton. A human skeleton if Brynn's guess was correct.
"Well, now we know what kind of mage this Merkath is," she muttered, looking at the skeleton. "It's always the necromancers that go bad first."
Brynn and Yoshimo started toward the doorway on the other end of the room, but stopped quickly when they heard someone call out from the hall beyond, "Who is there? What are you doing in my house?"
There was nothing in the room to hide behind, and anyway the mage already knew where they were so Brynn and Yoshimo stood their ground and waited for the mage to appear. Merkath emerged from the doorway. He was a scrawny man with unkempt brown hair wearing blue and green robes, but his dark eyes held the sort of cunning that came with being a wizard.
"Who are you?" he demanded a second time.
"My name is Brynn Trueblade," Brynn answered, her right hand instinctively going to her katana. "I'm here to recover an actor named Haer'Dalis. His friends, not to mention the patrons of the playhouse, miss him." She smiled tightly. "It would be nice of you to hand him over."
Merkath chuckled coldly. "You mean the incompetent thief that wandered into my home? No, I think I'll keep him. It has been ever so long since I've had a pet."
Brynn dropped all pretense of pleasantness. "I don't think you understand, mage," she said, "you will release the actor."
"Or you will do what little girl?" Merkath asked, his voice laced with condescension.
"Oh come off it," Brynn retorted. "What do you think the Cowled Wizards would say if they knew what kind of magic you were practicing. That is why you're hiding down here in the sewers, right? To keep what you're doing hidden for them. Tell me, did you just dig that corpse up from the graveyard or did you go and kill someone yourself?" She jerked her head toward the skeleton in the pit.
Merkath spluttered, his face turning red with anger. "You dare to cross me?"
"Oh I dare, mage," Brynn replied. "I'll bet you don't have any friends, so if you decide to start a fight with me and my associate here I doubt anyone will miss you. So how about we do this the peaceful way. You release the actor and I leave you alone with your corpse."
"I will not be threatened by your ilk!" Merkath roared.
Brynn shrugged. "All right then, come on, Yoshimo, we'd better go see if the authorities want to check this place out. I've heard that the guard has a special dislike for necrophilliacs... pardon, necromancers." She turned away from the mage and started walking down the hall toward the stairs, Yoshimo following closely behind her.
"Are you sure that was... wise?" Yoshimo asked in a whisper. "It is never good policy to provoke the wrath of a mage."
"He'll fold," Brynn whispered back. "Did you see the look he got when I mentioned the Cowled Wizards? He's afraid of them, no doubt about that."
Brynn was right. Before she and Yoshimo had even gotten halfway to the stairs Merkath called after them, "All right, all right!" Brynn heard his footsteps coming down the hallway after them. He caught up, his face nearly white with fear, "You can have the actor. Just take him and get out!" He mumbled a few words under his breath and stomped back down the hall.
After a moment Brynn heard a door slam and she gave Yoshimo a triumphant look. "I told you he'd give in. Only thing is we've got to find this Haer'Dalis fellow now. I suppose we should try one of the other doors."
She went back into the room with the stairway and chose the door on the right, stepping carefully over the corpse of one of the mephits she and Yoshimo had killed. The door lead to a tiny room with a number of locked chests, and from there into what looked to be Merkath's bedroom. There was another door leading out of that room back down a long dark hall. Barely had Brynn set foot in the hall when she saw a man coming towards her from the opposite end. Yoshimo must have seen the man too, for he put his hand on the hilt of his blade and prepared for an attack.
It was unnecessary caution. The figure coming down the hall was clutching his head in one hand, and steadying himself against the wall with the other. He looked up as he came near Brynn and murmured quietly. "So my bonds have been passed on to another. what cruel fate awaits me now? And I thought I had tasted freedom."
Brynn shook her head. This must be the actor she had come for. For all the darkness in the hall all she could see of him was a glowing smudge. "You have tasted freedom," she told him gently. "I came here to rescue you. I assume you are the actor Haer'Dalis."
"You assume correctly, lady raven," replied the actor. "I give you my sincerest thanks. But tell me, did the wizard also release the gem to you?"
Brynn shook her head. "No, but I don't think he had it on him either. He had nowhere to carry it and there was no chain around his neck."
"Ah," said Haer'Dalis quietly, "yes, I think I know where he keeps it. Follow me, for I may need your assistance in retrieving it."
He headed back down the hall the way he had come and went into another room. Brynn waved Yoshimo along with her and followed the actor into what looked to be the wizard's private shrine. This room alone of the rooms in the wizard's home was brightly lit, and for the first time Brynn got a good look at the man she had come to rescue.
Roger had said Haer'Dalis was a funny looking guy, but that hadn't quite prepared Brynn for what the actor actually looked like. For starters his hair was a bluish-gray with white tufts near his temples. His ears were almost elven, in that they were long and tapered to a point, but they were slimmer, not to mention that they bore a number of gold rings. His eyes were dark gray and stunningly beautiful, and his cheeks and chin were marked with what looked to be some sort of strange tattoo. But his looks weren't the half of it. He seemed to emit an aura of otherworldliness and something else that Brynn couldn't identify. She could however say with certainty that she had never met anyone before that looked anything like him.
"The gem should be on the altar on the far side of the room," Haer'Dalis said, his words jolting Brynn from her surprised reverie.
"Oh... the gem, yes. I'll go get it," she stammered, acutely aware that she had been staring. She felt her cheeks heat up and quickly she started toward the altar.
A strong hand caught her arm. "Watch you step, the floor is trapped," Yoshimo said. He stepped in front of her and stomped one foot on one of the floor tiles then jumped back as a hole opened up in the wall to Brynn's left and two arrows shot out. They hit the opposite wall and clattered to the ground. Yoshimo walked over and examined the arrows. "Poisoned," he pronounced grimly. "I think that perhaps I should retrieve the gem. Stay back there with the actor where you will be safe."
Brynn did as he said, a little annoyed. What was Yoshimo doing telling her what was safe and what wasn't? After all, he had decided to come along with her even though it put his life in jeopardy. He wasn't exactly the authority on keeping safe. Besides which, she could take pretty damn good care of herself.
It turned out that the altar was locked as well as trapped, so it was a good idea for Yoshimo to get the gem after all. Yoshimo tossed the gem to Brynn as he walked back to join her and Haer'Dalis.
"A fancy bauble, that one," he remarked.
Brynn turned the thing over in her hands, it was indeed a fancy bauble, blue and covered with crystalline spikes, it had been carved so that it opened and closed, like a small box of some sort, and it made her hand tingle as she held it. She quickly put it in her pack. The gem held the same sort of otherworldly aura as its owner and she found it disconcerting to say the least.
Haer'Dalis was grinning from ear to ear, "Come, my ravens, let us fly from this prison and to the playhouse where my friends await us!" he crowed.
"Sound like a plan," Brynn agreed. The three of them made haste out of the mage's home, hoping that Merkath would not notice that the gem was gone until they were well away.
***
The journey back out of the sewers was thankfully a quick one, and soon the trio found themselves breathing in the fresh, incense scented air of the temple district. Brynn lead them up out of a sewer grate near the headquarters of the Order of the Most Radiant Heart, an impressive stone building whose entrance was flanked by a pair of enormous stone knights. Brynn had seen many impressive things in her time, but she still found the sight awe-inspiring to say the least.
Unfortunately she was so busy gawking that she ended up walking straight into a fellow passerby, bashing her nose against the unyielding metal of the other's breastplate. She fell back on to her bottom on the paving stones with a little cry of pain and got quickly to her feet.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you..." she apologized, rubbing her nose. She looked up at the person she had run into and found herself staring at a young human man. He was taller than she, but then again most people were, even other half-elves, and his square, blocky jaw sported a neatly trimmed brown goatee.
"Nay, 'tis my fault dear lady, I was absorbed in my own thoughts as well. My name is Anomen, Anomen Delryn," the human replied pleasantly enough. Brynn just hoped the wind didn't change directions placing the young man down wind of her. He probably wouldn't be so pleasant if he got a good whiff of her.
"I'm Brynn Trueblade," Brynn said. She would have offered to shake hands with him or something, but her hands were covered in troll's blood and sewer gook.
Anomen looked thoughtful. "I have heard of you I think. Tell me, are you the same woman who put an end to the mischief of that gnome at the circus?"
Brynn nodded. "Yes, that was me," she said. She tried to think of a way to politely excuse herself from the conversation so that she could deliver Haer'Dalis to Raelis Shai and be done with it.
"It seems I travel in more noble company that I had thought," Haer'Dalis said quietly. "You did not make mention of any heroic exploits to me, my raven. You will have to tell me of it sometime."
For the first time Anomen seemed to notice Yoshimo and Haer'Dalis, not to mention the state of Brynn's attire. "You look battle-worn, my lady. Do you require any assistance?"
"No," Brynn replied quickly, "I'm all right, thank you for your concern though. Maybe I'll run into you again sometime... or not run into you as the case may be." She smiled a little and started to walk off, but as luck would have it, bad luck that is, she stepped on an uneven paving stone and stumbled, jarring her already injure ankle. She gave a little cry of pain and sank to her knees for a moment. In an instant there were two pairs of hands helping her up, Anomen on one side and Yoshimo on the other.
"As noble as it is to brave your pain, my lady," said Anomen as he steadied her, "ignoring your aches for too long can be dangerous. Allow me to escort you to your lodgings."
"I'll be okay," Brynn replied.
"Nay, it would not be gentlemanly of me to leave you thus," Anomen replied.
Of all the times for chivalry... Brynn thought.
"You needn't trouble yourself," Yoshimo said from Brynn's other side, his voice a little harsh. "I can help her." Brynn looked up and saw that the bounty hunter was glaring daggers at the other human, though for what reason she couldn't guess.
"Obviously not well enough, friend. If that were so she would not be injured." Anomen replied. "Please, my lady, allow me to help you," he said turning to Brynn with a charming smile. He must not have noticed the way Yoshimo tensed up like a cat about to strike or he wouldn't have turned his attention away.
Brynn put a calming hand on Yoshimo's shoulder. "It's all right," she said to him quietly. To Anomen she added. "We're headed to the Five Flagons in the bridge district, and there's been talk of a murderer in that area as of late, not to mention muggers. As it is I'm not going to be of much use in a fight, and I suppose and extra set of eyes to keep watch would be helpful."
Yoshimo frowned. "If you say so," he said, dropping her arm and walking back toward Haer'Dalis. "Time for you to go home," he muttered to the actor.
Brynn sighed quietly, wondering what had gotten into Yoshimo all of a sudden and started walking again, or tried to. As soon as she put weight on her right foot her ankle began to ache anew and pain shot all the way up her calf. "Bugger," she swore, feeling a strange looseness in the joint, as if something was pulled or perhaps even broken. It wouldn't have been the first time that in the heat of battle she'd continued forward on a broken bone. She had probably made the injury worse when she had tripped.
Anomen put out hand and steadied her again. "Come, my lady, lean on my arm and I will help you. As soon as we get to your inn I will see what I can do to heal that wound. I am a cleric of some skill as well as a warrior," he admitted, his voice tinted with pride.
"Oh?" Brynn asked. "Well, then as soon as we get to the Five Flagons I'll have you check my ankle out." Leaning heavily on Anomen's arm, Brynn lead the way back to the bridge district.
***
Though the walk to the Five Flagons was short, even with Brynn's injury slowing them down, to Yoshimo it seemed an eternity. He focused his eyes directly at Anomen's back, as if he could drill holes right through the other man with only the heat of his gaze. Of all the pompous asses that roamed the streets of Athkatla and all of Amn for that matter they had to run into the most pompous ass of them all. The entire trip it was always, 'my lady' this or that, and always with that self-confident smirk on his face. That alone was enough to make Yoshimo's blood boil, but what really infuriated him was Anomen's simple assumption that he was the superior man. Yoshimo alone wasn't enough to help Brynn back to the inn, no Anomen had to insist on coming along to help her.
Haer'Dalis whistled a few notes at Yoshimo's shoulder and said, "Green eyes do not suit you, my friend."
"What do you mean by that?" Yoshimo hissed. "You cannot think that I am jealous of that arrogant windbag."
Haer'Dalis chuckled, "No, I do not think that you are jealous, I know it. And what reason is there not to be? I would hate to see some club-swinging lout steal away my lady fair. Particularly if she were as fair a lady as Brynn Trueblade."
"Brynn is not my 'lady fair,' actor," Yoshimo demanded quietly, checking to see if both Brynn and Anomen were out of earshot. "I have pledged my service to her, and that is all."
Haer'Dalis chuckled again. "Fine, fine, have it your way, my friend."
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
***
Limping, Brynn went down the stairs to the playhouse beneath the Five Flagons Inn, Haer'Dalis and Anomen and Yoshimo hanging further back. Raelis Shai was packing up set pieces and various bits of the regalia that went along with putting on a play. Boxes of props and costumes were strewn about, some half-full and others stuffed to the brim. The scene was one of chaos, but it had it's own sort of order.
Raelis looked up from her work and, after spotting Haer'Dalis coming down the stairs, ran over and threw her arms around the actor. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed, releasing Haer'Dalis so that she could grasp Brynn's hands, "you have brought our sparrow home just as promised!" She paused. "Ah, but you have suffered for his speedy return. Sit, sit, and rest yourself!"
"I think I'll do just that," Brynn said, suddenly feeling as weary as she must have looked. "I've got the gem too," she added, pulling the gem from her belt pouch and handing it to Raelis before she sat down on one of the theater's many wooden benches. "The trouble we had didn't even come from the mage, but from his pets and a sea troll, however that's a story for another time."
"Indeed," Raelis agreed. She untied a fat purse from her girdle and handed it to Brynn. "In this you will find the agreed upon amount, though seeing what state you are in if I had more I would give it to you."
"It's okay, eight hundred gold will put me a long way toward the amount I need to collect," Brynn replied. She tied the bag to her own belt and paused to work a kink out of her shoulder.
"If I had another small task for you might you accept it if the reward was enough?" Raelis inquired, smiling pleasantly.
Brynn frowned. "What kind of small task? Besides, I thought you were broke."
Raelis' smile faded a little. "I have to save a few coins to repay whoever helps me this time around, wouldn't you say? It is a small task, but perhaps before you accept it I would be best to tell you a little of our history."
"Yeah, maybe," Brynn agreed a little hesitantly. Something smelled rotten and she would bet that it wasn't her tunic this time.
"You see, we are not from this plane," Raelis began, "we hail from Sigil where we had the unfortunate luck to be tricked into performing something we ought not have. It was a great play, well penned, but it seems there was a touch of truth in it. We barely escaped from Sigil with our lives and have been holed up here ever since. However, it seems that the bounty hunters that were sent to catch us are closing in."
"I see," Brynn said. "What can I do to help?"
"With this gem that you have retrieved along with Haer'Dalis my fellows and I will be able to open up a portal out of this plane and hopefully away from the bounty hunters," Raelis explained "The problem is that in doing so we also will release a number of creatures from the outer planes, and we need someone to fight them off whilst we finish opening the portal."
Brynn sighed. It was all in a day's work, she figured, fighting off extra planar creatures while a troupe of renegade extra planar actors made their escape from extra planar bounty hunters. Yeah, all in a normal day's work for her. "Sure, I'd be glad to help," she said, "but could you give me half an hour? I know you're pressed for time, but I think my ankle's broken and though that fellow back there, Anomen, can heal me pretty quickly, I would like to change into some fresh clothes."
Raelis nodded. "Half an hour I do believe we have. Go and do what you must, I will see you anon."
Brynn smiled thankfully and hoisted herself carefully off the wooden bench. "Thank you," she said. With that she hobbled her way over to the stairs and started up, "Come with me, Anomen, I can let you look at my ankle up at my room."
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Author's Note
Once again you see only a black stage lit by a single spot light, the lovely warrior-woman, Chryseis, whom you might remember from last time, walks into the light, frowning fiercely. She holds a single sheet of paper in one clenched hand.
"Well, I'm back again," she growls. Quietly she adds, "Stupid author and her stupid author's notes."
A low rumbling is heard all throughout the theater, a sign from above it seems that Chryseis' grumbling will not be tolerated.
Chryseis hurries to finish her duties. "So, this is what Blue has to tell you people this time around,
'Dear readers,
I'm glad that you're all back, and I thank everyone that has reviewed that past two chapters. I know this chapter was longer than the last two, but I couldn't find a good place to leave off. I changed the deal with Roger the Fence a little bit because it made more sense plot-wise to do what I did. And yeah, maybe the sea troll was a little easier to kill in the story than the game, but if you think about it cutting the arm off of anything is going to make it a whole lot easier to finish off.
Toodles,
The Blue Sorceress'"
Chryseis scrunches the paper up in her hand and tosses it away before she walks off, muttering under her breath about the sorts of things she wishes she could do to the author. There is another low rumble, and from backstage you hear Chryseis voice, "Oh shove it up your..."
The last word is drowned out by thunderclap and the light on the stage fades away.